Red Bull won every drivers’ championship from 2021 to 2024 and finished 2023 with 21 wins from 22 races. After 13 rounds of 2026 it is fourth in the constructors’ standings on 204 points, 264 behind Mercedes, with its four-time champion describing the car as made “out of paper” and comparing his straight-line speed to a turtle’s. The fall has been steep. It also has clear causes, and most of them were visible before the season started.

The engine gamble

Red Bull’s decision to build its own power unit was forced. Honda announced its withdrawal in 2020, and rather than become a customer, Red Bull founded Red Bull Powertrains in Milton Keynes and brought in Ford as a partner for the 2026 rules. The ambition was admirable and the timeline brutal. Mercedes has been building championship engines at Brixworth since 2014. Red Bull started from an empty building in 2021. The result is an engine that Verstappen says has “bothered us for years” in its development and that trails the Mercedes unit on the efficiency the 2026 regulations reward most. Red Bull has even disputed the FIA’s accounting of the ADUO upgrade allowance, a bureaucratic fight that shows how much competitive value sits in every permitted step.

The people who left

The technical structure that won four titles has been dismantled. Adrian Newey, the designer behind every Red Bull championship car, left for Aston Martin. Christian Horner, team principal since the team’s first race in 2005, was replaced by Laurent Mekies. Gianpiero Lambiase, Verstappen’s race engineer and the other half of the sport’s most recognisable radio partnership, has gone, with Bradley McCullough hired from Aston Martin as head of racing in September. Our report on the McCullough signing noted that institutional knowledge like Lambiase’s does not transfer with a job title. Mekies has run the rebuild calmly by the standards of a team with Red Bull’s history. Calm does not make the car faster.

The second seat

Red Bull has not had a settled second driver since Daniel Ricciardo left in 2018. Isack Hadjar was promoted for 2026 and looked like the answer until a wrist injury before the Dutch Grand Prix kept him out for three rounds, with Liam Lawson standing in and Yuki Tsunoda covering at Racing Bulls. The shuffle cost points and, more damagingly, development consistency. Hadjar’s absence from Madrid makes three consecutive races missed, and the 2027 decision between him and Lawson has become one of the winter’s live questions.

The handling complaint

Beyond the engine, Verstappen has been consistent about the car’s character. The 2026 rules reward energy management and the Red Bull, in his description, feels “numb” and “unnatural” at the limit. He has argued the cars are too easy to drive, pointing to how quickly Lawson and Tsunoda adapted, a remark Tsunoda answered pointedly this week. Whether that is a Red Bull problem or a regulation problem is debatable. Verstappen’s discomfort is real either way, and a driver who does not trust the car cannot extract what is in it.

Why Verstappen stayed

He confirmed this month that he held serious talks with Mercedes and McLaren before re-signing. The decision to stay is the most informed bet in the sport: Verstappen has seen the engine data, the 2027 plans and the rebuild from the inside, and concluded the deficit is fixable. Red Bull’s own reading of the year is that Verstappen’s Monza drive, in a car that could not defend on the straights, was among his best. The ceiling is still there. The question, as Mekies has put it, is “ultimate speed”, and Red Bull has one regulation cycle to find it before its champion’s patience becomes the story.

Frequently asked questions

Why is Red Bull slow in 2026?

Its in-house Red Bull Powertrains engine trails the Mercedes unit on efficiency, and Verstappen has criticised the car’s handling under the new rules.

Where is Red Bull in the constructors’ championship?

Fourth after 13 rounds on 204 points.

Who is the team principal?

Laurent Mekies, who replaced Christian Horner and has restructured the technical and race operations.

Who replaced Lambiase?

Bradley McCullough, hired from Aston Martin as head of racing in September 2026.